Okay, one more stop on the Cézanne route! This hilltop garden is a ten-minute walk from the atelier. Here, Cézanne seems to have found the most inspiration, as 87 works from this series are scattered throughout international museums and private collections. Here again, Mont Sainte-Victoire dominates his work. Opposite 62 av Paul Cézanne.
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Atelier Paul Cézanne, Aix-en-Provence
Here’s another of Cézanne’s workplaces, where he worked every morning from 1902 to his death in 1906. The atelier is seemingly frozen in time, arranged as (the historians and restorers think) he left it. Still-life models such as pottery, vases, bottles and skulls, tools, a jacket and a cherry-picking ladder are on display. Correspondence between […]
Les Deux Garçons, Aix-en-Provence
I had to have a drink at this 18th-century brasserie where Aix’s two most famous sons, Cézanne and Zola, hung out. Other famous visitors included Picasso, Edith Piaf, Churchill, Sartre and Cocteau. This 17th-century building was originally a chess club and a gathering spot for Royalists during the French Revolution. In 1840, it was purchased […]
Les Carriéres de Bibemus, Aix-en-Provence
When Cézanne got away from it all, he didn’t mess around. This remote pine-forested site high on a sandstone plateau was where he escaped city life. Before Cézanne discovered it, the site was used by the city of Aix as a quarry. The tall, top-heavy red rocks were chiseled by hand, chipped from the bottom. […]
Aix’s Fountains
Since “Aix” is derived from the Latin word “aquae”, it’s no surprise that fountains decorate the cityscape. 18th-century Fontaine d’Eau Chaude (hot water) or La Fountaine Moussue (moss) sits in the middle of the action on Cours Mirabeau and spouts 90-degree F water. The spring from which it draws has been enjoyed for its healing […]
Farmers’ Market, Aix-en-Provence
Another great farmers’ market! In Aix, the morning market at Place Richelme is the place to be. It’s small, but has all the essentials: honey, olive oil, tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, produce, bread, cheese, artisanal sausage, flowers. My husband and I swung by here and gathered an overabundance of picnic items in no time.
Aix-en-Provence, France
Sunny Aix has it all: an art- and literature-filled history, Baroque architecture at every turn and a laid-back vibe. It is small and walkable, with tree-lined boulevards and café-filled squares. Aix was a Celtic-Ligurian capital in the 3rd century B.C., until the Romans settled in, lured by thermal springs. During the Middle Ages, it was […]
